Tourist Attraction in Lisbon:Praca de Don Pedro IV

The Praca de Don Pedro IV, better known as Piazza del Rossio, is the nerve center of Lisbon, for six centuries and is located on the northern border of the Baixa district. It takes its name from Pietro IV of Portugal. There were bullfights, festivals and even autodafè during the Spanish inquisition. Today there are occasional political meetings and its sober buildings house souvenir shops, jewelers and bars. In the mid-nineteenth century it was tiled with black and white tiles in order to create a wavy pattern. This was one of the first decorative motifs of the squares and streets of Lisbon. On the north side of the square is the Teatro Nacional D. Maria II, which received the name of the daughter of Pietro IV, precisely Maria II. At the center of the square stands the statue of Peter IV of Portugal, the first emperor of Brazil, at the base of which we can see the figures of four women who have allegorical meaning. They indicate the four cardinal virtues: Justice, Wisdom, Fortitude and Temperance, qualities attributed to the King-soldier. It was created an urban legend attributed to this statue, according to which it was initially built for the Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico, shot then in 1867, just before the statue was finished. Given the similarity between the two emperors, the statue was readapted to the figure of the Portuguese king and placed in Piazza del Rossio. Various scholars like Josè Augusto França, historian and scholar of art, did not agree with this theory since the statue has clear signs that recall Portuguese figures: the shields in the buttons, the necklace of the Order of the Tower and the Sword and the Constitutional Charter. Recent discoveries at the base of the statue during restoration works, once again affirm that it is the figure of Peter IV: two containers of 20 centimeters each, containing documents and studies, are still being analyzed by the Portuguese Institute of Conservation. Word processing: Giovambattista Spagnuolo (Myooni)